The Inheritance
by Allronix
Summary: Summary: The night before Curzon passes the Dax Symbiont, he makes a measure of peace with his sucessor


"The Inheritance"  
by Allronix  
DS9  
Pre series vignette, spoilers for "Facets"  
Summary: The night before Curzon passes the Dax Symbiont, he makes a measure of peace with his   
sucessor  
  
  
"The Inheritance"  
  
"I wouldn't say that you were ruthless or right  
I couldn't see from so far away  
Was I chasing after rainbows?"  
  
-Duran Duran "The Seventh Stranger"  
  
  
"Goddamned Board Doctors! When am I going to see her?"  
  
"At the Ritual. You know the policy."  
  
"Excuse me, I don't know how many Hosts you've gone through, but when you've reached the age   
I have, you don't give a damn about policy."  
  
"Even if it weren't policy, I don't think seeing her would be such a good idea..." the nurse said as he   
set the tray of food in his lap.  
  
Curzon Dax picked up the glass and sipped the contents suspiciously. He spit it out on the floor. "I   
asked for Saurian."  
  
"You know that alcohol will affect the symbiont, and we can't run the risk..."  
  
"You Board idiots must forget that I was a little beyond drunk when you Joined me. I can't   
remember anything of it."  
  
"There were reasons for that, and we didn't think you were drunk."  
  
Curzon sniffed. "Not too hard to fool you, is it?"  
  
"Curzon," the nurse said. "It isn't like you haven't met her, or that you won't..."  
  
"Look, sonny, if this woman is going to inherit my dirty mind, she ought to have forewarning so   
she can back out of this."  
  
"No," said the nurse.  
  
Curzon appeared to calm down for a brief moment, then took his food tray and threw it at the nurse.   
The glass followed, clattering and breaking when it hit the wall. He started to shout in protest.  
  
"I WANT TO SEE HER, DAMN IT ALL, AND I WANT TO SEE HER NOW!"  
  
The nurse looked like he was about to wet his pants, and ran from the room.  
  
Curzon instantly calmed down, grinned and chuckled to himself maniacally. Even if he didn't see   
her, getting the best of that stupid nurse was reward enough.  
  
  
She had said her good-byes. Her family were now waiting outside the complex.  
  
It was hell to get here, and making it worse were the News Services outside the compound. All of   
them were looking upon her as the "news item of the week" - the only Initiate to be reinstated into the Host   
Program after being phased out initially.  
  
Tests. More damn tests. This one flashed a bunch of colors in front of her and asked her to   
describe her emotions at seeing each one.  
  
I'm exhausted already. Who cares about these stupid colors? She sighed. At least Starfleet is   
considering this to be medical leave.  
  
A bright blue, the color of the uniform she wore when she was able to leave the compound and do   
something resembling officer's duty flashed on the screen. "What does this color remind you of?" the   
computer droned.  
  
*By the Joined Gods, enough already!* Aloud, the first thing that popped out of her mouth was   
the word, "Starfleet."  
  
"And how does this 'Starfleet' make you feel?"  
  
Jadzia drew upon her emotional training to keep herself calm. "Eager."  
  
"Eager for what?"  
  
*Eager to be out in the middle of nowhere, to be free to live this "new life" I've worked so hard for.   
Somewhere new, somewhere wonderful...*  
  
Aloud, she said, "Eager to explore new things."  
  
The computer chimed again. An ugly green popped up on the screen. She sighed again.  
  
The door slid open and a man only a little older than her burst into the room. "Jadzia..."  
  
She looked up at him. He was dressed in a nurse's uniform. "Are the tests over?" she asked.  
  
"My...my supervisor has authorized a break."  
  
Jadzia tried not to look as relieved as she felt. "I suppose I ought to get some rest, then." she   
walked over to the replicator. "*Tarjait,* hot."  
  
The replicator obeyed, materializing a steaming mugful of the scarlet beverage. She picked it up and   
started to sip it.  
  
"Uh, Jadzia," the nurse looked nervous. "There's a reason for this break."  
  
"What is it?" she asked.  
  
The nurse said the words Jadzia dreaded more then tests.  
  
"Curzon Dax wants to see you."  
  
  
  
  
Curzon heard the pattern of footsteps down the corridor and quickly identified them to be those of   
the irritating nurse. The other sound was less familiar to him. Could this be his supervisor? If it was, Curzon   
thought to himself, he should make this performance one for the record books!  
  
"WHERE IS SHE? I'M SEEING HER EVEN IF I HAVE TO TURN THIS DAMN COMPLEX UPSIDE-  
DOWN!!!"  
  
The nurse entered the room meekly. Curzon had picked up the empty bedpan and stared him down.   
"Is she here?"  
  
"Y...yes, Curzon," he said. "H...Here s..she is."  
  
He turned and got the hell out of there. Curzon reluctantly put the bedpan down. It would have   
been very nice to try doing that fast pitch...  
  
Curzon looked up from his bed. It was Jadzia! She stood in the doorway, hands carefully folded in   
front to her. Rejoining the Program had done a lot for her. She had gone from a pretty girl to a very lovely   
young woman. She was everything he remembered, and then some. Her hair was as dark as space, her eyes   
still were like ice-covered sapphires. She carried herself with a new confidence - a determination and poise   
that would have been amazing in any Initiate.  
  
*Gods, those eyes can still break hearts from across a room,* Curzon thought. *Even an old rake   
like me can't resist her. By Everything Joined, I pity any man in her path...Especially any that are fool enough   
to fall as hard as I did...*   
  
He covered it with bravado. Letting out a laugh that could have peeled the paint on the walls, he   
stared her down.  
  
"Out of every damned Initiate in the Program, the one who's getting cursed with my symbiont..."  
  
"I asked for this, Curzon!" she said sharply. "I still have no idea why you consented..."  
  
"I thought it was a joke," he said. "After all, no one gets back in the program..."  
  
"I did."  
  
"Don't you get like that with me, little girl!" Curzon said gruffly. "You're the first."  
  
"And still, you didn't object, why?"  
  
*My dear one, I hope you understand after the Joining. Right now, I haven't the courage...*  
  
"I had my reasons." Curzon said dryly. "Besides, the training wasn't so bad. I could have been a lot   
harsher."  
  
"I'm not going to forgive you, Curzon!" she shouted. "Those weeks were the worst of my life."  
  
"I didn't object when you reapplied, did I?" he asked. "And you got through it all again."  
  
"No thanks to you," she said.  
  
His smile grew strangely tender, and his brown eyes clouded with an emotion Jadzia couldn't quite   
place. "So, why did you request to get my inheritance?"  
  
"Inheritance?"  
  
"My private nickname for being Joined. It's a wonderful legacy, Jadzia. There's no way to put it into   
words you'll understand, but..."  
  
He took her wrist and gently placed her hand on his abdomen. Jadzia was amazed. She could   
actually feel it within him, squirming, struggling to get free.  
  
"Just think, in less than a day, you are going to have that within your body. It's glorious, but not   
without pain."  
  
"Pain?" she asked. "It hurts?"  
  
"Emotionally, you bet it does. All those memories. It's a fight to keep yourself intact. I'm not certain   
you could manage me."  
  
"I'm qualified, Curzon. I'm not going to be intimidated by you again!" she declared. "I'm not that   
quiet girl you could scare off. I've grown up."  
  
Curzon chuckled. "So you say. What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm in Starfleet. I graduated a Lieutenant Junior Grade because of all my degrees. I'm on Medical   
leave from Outpost Beta Eight."  
  
Curzon huffed. "Starfleet. Thought I'd seen enough of it. An officer?"  
  
Jadzia's stare was ice. "You heard me."  
  
Curzon huffed and chucked darkly. He then stopped and looked up at her.  
  
Jadzia prepared a mental list of insults she could yell at him. Damn it all, she admired him, admired   
what he and Dax had been able to accomplish. To an extent, she couldn't be angry at him. She was much   
stronger now than when she was when she trained under him. She still hated what he had done to her, but   
she was determined to carry on his legacy.  
  
His answer, and Jadzia was ready to shout.  
  
"Congratulations," Curzon whispered.  
  
This was the last thing she suspected! Exhaling, she tried to clear the list of insults from her mind.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me," he said, wryly. "So, are you a line officer?"  
  
She didn't answer. Curzon sighed. "Probably not."  
  
"It's really none of your business."  
  
"No, it isn't. Still, I am curious to see who is going to carry a part of me with them. You'll know what   
it feels like to stand on top of the Cliffs of Bole with your student, catching lungfuls of cold air. You'll know   
the triumph of testing a shuttle's warp capacity, and you'll feel the most intense hate and loss. No Initiate is   
prepared for it all. I wasn't."  
  
"You weren't?"  
  
The old man shook his head. "No, I wasn't. I wasn't even conscious during the Joining Ritual. I put   
on the Robe, got a little something to drink, fell asleep. When I awoke, the part of me that was an Initiate was   
dead. It isn't this glory like the Legends teach, or whatever...You're dazed, you're overwhelmed, you're just   
damn exhausted. And there's the end...like what I'm going through right now."  
  
He drew in a jagged breath, and Jadzia saw how frail his health was. "Stay still, please. Don't tire   
yourself out."  
  
"Worried about your legacy, lady?" he asked, but there was no bitterness or wryness when he   
spoke. Perhaps Curzon had grown as well since their last meeting.  
  
"No..." Jadzia said, startling herself. "I'm worried about you."  
  
The old man seemed touched for a moment. He reached out and touched her shoulder. "Such a   
beautiful woman shouldn't be Joined...Shouldn't have all those restrictions and nonsense placed on her. She   
should be free to explore the things I never had the courage to explore...to rebel, to question the universe, to   
love."  
  
"Love?" she asked. "That's hormones, chemical reactions. It doesn't really exist."  
  
"Oh, it does. In these memories, you'll know the most gut-aching love, the wildest rebellion...Oh,   
but you shouldn't be an Initiate all tied down with study..."  
  
"Why?" she asked bitterly. "Because you are the galaxy's worst rake?"  
  
Curzon immediately snapped on the arrogance, hiding his momentary lapse of sense. "Something   
like that. What I'm saying is that the Unjoined have the freedoms to do all the things a Joined has no   
business doing. Their one life gives them something unique, something beautiful."  
  
Jadzia shook her head. "The Unjoined are childlike, unruly. They need to be tamed, taught. To   
carry on a legacy, to be Joined is to gain the wisdom and insight of many lives, and the training allows us to   
see a larger view."  
  
"Ah, but I am royalty, Jadzia. You will soon be royalty. Royalty is great. Wouldn't trade it in, but   
the further you're away from Trill, the less you miss it. Outside of Trill, no one sees a Joined the way the   
Board teaches you."  
  
"I know that. That's why I went into Starfleet. To learn, to acquire more knowledge."  
  
"For what? Passing along to the next Initiate when you are like me?"  
  
Jadzia stood out of her chair. "Stop trying to intimidate me, Curzon! I worked all my life to be   
Joined, and I won't listen to people like you who are Joined and want to dictate to me that I'm not worthy. I   
am, and I've proven it."  
  
"I'm not trying to intimidate you. Just being pretty brutal."  
  
He studied her reaction. Anger was there, insult also. That was overridden by curiosity and more   
than a little fear.  
  
He reached out and touched her hand. "Don't worry. You're strong enough to make peace with   
whatever I throw at you. I..." his voice trailed off. "I believe in you."  
  
"You do?" she asked.  
  
He nodded. "Maybe, after you're Joined, you'll understand a few things about your old docent,   
maybe I won't be quite so frightening to you."  
  
She smiled slightly. "I'm not afraid of you, Curzon." She brushed her long fingers against his   
abdomen, then looked up. "That's why I made the request."   
  
Curzon felt his chest tighten. Whether it was the illness, or the Something Else he felt around his   
former student, he wasn't sure. Pride, joy, pain, sadness, and love in one mixed-up package. He whispered,   
"One last request, Jadzia dear?"  
  
There was resentment or anger in her eyes, but also the beginnings of forgiveness. With a   
bittersweet smile, she said, "Name it."  
  
"There's an old friend of mine that I want you to find. His name's Benjamin, and he's not been all   
together in the upstairs since his wife died. He's been letting himself fall out of life. I don't think he'd be the   
type to consider suicide, but he's still not living, either. You know what I mean?"  
  
"I'm not sure I do," Jadzia admitted. "That's Reassociation."  
  
Curzon sighed. "He's a student. Just think of it as continuing his education. Anyway, what I want   
you to do is try to shock him back to the land of the living. Give him a good, swift kick in the ass if nothing   
else works. Tell him it's from me."  
  
"I'll try to find him," she said.  
  
Curzon nodded. "That's a good lady. Thank you, and may the Joined Gods help you...After the   
Ritual, you're going to need it."  
  
The nurse came in. Curzon shot him an angry glare. "What do you want?"  
  
"Excuse me, but the Guardian-Priests are here. You need to prepare for the Ritual."  
  
The nurse handed Jadzia a white and blue New Host's robe, giving Curzon the red and black robe   
of the Old Host. Curzon took her hand. She turned around and smiled with not quite understanding, but   
some measure of forgiveness.  
  
Curzon looked his former pupil, now about to be his successor. *Out of all the Initiates in the   
Program...Oh, what sweet irony. I wish the best for you, love. The people you'll see and the places you'll   
go...Have a marvelous life.*  
  
She left the room to make her final preparations. Curzon's eyes followed her and the skittish nurse   
as they left, closing the door behind them.  
  
*A prayer, Joined Gods, help her find someone who loves her. Someone as handsome as she is   
pretty, and not an old idiot like me. Give her all the freedoms I had, and more.*  
  
Curzon placed his hand on his abdomen and felt the creature inside him squirm once more.  
  
And once more, my congratulations to you, Jadzia Dax.  
  
  
30  
  



End file.
